Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge on Thursday framed Bengaluru’s notorious traffic jams as a reflection of the city’s rapid economic and infrastructural growth. Speaking at the India Innovation Summit Innoverge organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Bengaluru on October 10, Kharge backed his argument with data on office space expansion and population growth.
“Just to give you a perspective on what scale Bengaluru is growing — last year, India saw an unprecedented office space increase of around 72 million sq. ft. across the top seven cities, out of which 40% was in Bengaluru,” Kharge said.
He suggested that traffic congestion, often seen as a crisis, is also a byproduct of the city’s accelerated development.
“This year, till September, we have seen office space growth close to 14.5 million sq. ft. Then we say why Bengaluru has so much traffic... We are growing rapidly,” he noted.
Migration is a key factor: Minister
The minister also pointed to migration as a key factor driving infrastructure stress.
“Bengaluru’s population is increasing by 2.5% every year. The highest absorption of migration is happening here... that’s why we have infrastructural problems,” he said.
Kharge added that while traffic congestion underscores the pace of growth, long-term solutions could involve “slowly moving” some functions or activities out of the city to ease the pressure.
Bengaluru traffic: Both success and challenge
{{/usCountry}}Kharge added that while traffic congestion underscores the pace of growth, long-term solutions could involve “slowly moving” some functions or activities out of the city to ease the pressure.
Bengaluru traffic: Both success and challenge
{{/usCountry}}He also took to X to discuss the same.
“Bengaluru’s mobility story reflects both our success and our challenges. We’re one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, with our GDP projected to grow at over 8.5% annually for the next decade,” he wrote.
“Today, Bengaluru has over 1.2 crore registered vehicles — nearly 82 lakh two-wheelers and 25 lakh cars. Last year alone, we added more than 7 lakh new vehicles to our roads. 58,913 new vehicles were registered in August 2025 alone. While, these numbers are a reflection of a growing city it is also an indication of why our roads are bursting at the seams,” he stated.
“The Government is solving these challenges collaboratively with think tanks and corporates,” Kharge concluded.
His remarks came after he received backlash for calling Bengaluru traffic a “good problem to have”.
The remarks also came a day after deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar drew a comparison between Bengaluru’s traffic and that of London and Delhi, arguing that the issue gets amplified in Karnataka because “media is free here, unlike in other states.”